The summer in Seattle has kicked off to a horrible start as it’s been unseasonably drab and cold; however, this week the sun finally came out and we got some fabulous weather — like, I can wear a tank top and shorts type of weather…and man, I was hot!! What’s sad is — temperatures were just in the upper 70’s and I can’t imagine how I’m going to deal when we go to Las Vegas next week! So with the great weather, I’ve been going out with Natalie a ton more. We went to our first post-natal yoga class together at 8 Limbs Yoga, which is conveniently within walking distance. She was an angel and slept most of the time. I had to nurse her in the middle but she fell right back asleep afterwards. I’ve also taken a number of walks with her, around the neighborhood and most recently at Sandpoint Park which is gorgeous. We’ve had some other outings, including attending PEPS, the First Weeks class at Birth & Beyond and to meet up with a coworker in Bellevue for lunch.

During the week, we walked over to a Starbucks to meet another Microsoft mom whose son is 1 month older than Natalie to discuss possibly doing a nanny share. Fortunately, we totally hit it off and have started working together on a nanny agreement, the family nanny share agreement, investigating nanny taxes and looking at candidates. Whew! I’m really excited as we’ll get the convenience of having a nanny at home but at a much lower cost to us than if we had done a nanny on our own (or even daycare which can be so expensive! Bright Horizons is about $2000 a month—*gulp*). Plus, with a nanny, it’ll be 2:1 ratio as opposed to 4:1 ratio in a daycare of childcare providers to children. We want to probably do a nanny for the first year or so and then consider putting Natalie in a daycare for the social aspect. This other family is moving to Ravenna in August and their house is less than 2 miles away, so it’ll be super easy. But man, I’ve started researching the world of nanny shares and there is so much information out there for common practices! We are essentially going to be employers and have to think about things like sick leave and vacation and withholding social security taxes.

As I mentioned, we are going to Las Vegas next week — Natalie’s first flight! We’re a little nervous but this flight should hopefully be straightforward since it’s short, non-stop and I’ll have Matt with me. The flight is at 6am and Natalie tends to be tired and easy to sleep in the mornings so hopefully it won’t be bad. I’ve been asking around a lot about what I can bring, packing, etc…